Semiconductor memories are used in a variety of applications, including various consumer electronics and commercial goods. One such semiconductor memory technology employs spin electronics. In these devices, the spin states of electrons are manipulated to store digital information. When exposed to an externally applied magnetic field, an electron's magnetic moment will align either parallel or antiparallel to the external field. For example, an electron in a parallel spin state (i.e., +½ or “spin up”) may represent a binary value of 1, while an antiparallel spin state (i.e., −½ or “spin down”) may represent a value of 0.
One such electronic spin device is a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), which includes conductive lines (e.g., word lines and bit lines) positioned in different directions (e.g., orthogonal to each other in different device layers). The conductive lines electrically interface with a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) serving as a magnetic memory bit cell.
Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding elements, unless otherwise indicated. The figures are drawn to representatively illustrate relevant aspects of disclosed embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale.